by Nur Hersi Bahal
Friday, May 16, 2008

It was 17 years ago this coming 18 May that Somaliland announced secession from Somalia. Since that date, as the fate of the South sank deeper into the abyss of chaos filled with the blood and bones of forlorn citizens, Somaliland has been emphatically marketed as an “Oasis of Peace in the Horn of Africa”, and rightfully so! Of late, however, around the oasis, the conspicuous sprout of a thorny and poisonous acacia is spreading intense apprehension. For the few endowed with the requisite extra-sensory sleight and well-disposed socialite plugger inclined to symbiosis, the thorny oasis presents an unprecedented opportunity to plump out. The overwhelming majority is fortifying their emotions against the possible eventual mishap or tends to derive a hollow satisfaction from an occasional gaze from a distance or a dizzying sniff that helps them sleep at night on an empty stomach.

The blame for the political malaise falls squarely on the shoulders of politicians; who to begin with, had nothing to do with the birth of the Oasis. It was the product of the foresight, determination and conscientious effort of elders acting upon their natural leadership mandate to craft peace in their tiny part of the world – a magnanimous feat that has yet to be duplicated anywhere else in the Somali peninsula. Unfortunately today, these same elders are under the spotlight for one of Somaliland’s most damaging political confrontations. The role of the average citizen in the downward spiral cannot be overlooked. Somaliland is a catch 22: she craves international recognition yet; she is blocking the roads that lead to recognition and those that lead to prosperity and nation building.

The Government

Three groups spend other people's money: children, thieves, politicians. All three need supervision – Dick Armey

Exculpations and self-justifications aside, 17 years is a long time! It is enough time for a boy to become a man and a girl to become a woman. It should be enough time, despite the restrictions in resources, for institutions to become entrenched in serving the public with the meager finances they can get. Institutions serving the people they were set up for are the cornerstone of governments, and in turn, translate to public satisfaction and endorsement of their government. Somalilanders are always passionate about defending the sovereignty of Somaliland but when it comes to scrutinizing the quality of governance and its role in fulfilling its obligations to the citizens, the notion of a functioning, democratic Somaliland becomes stillborn. Tribalism, corruption and the cherished desires of individuals and groups conspire to shake the foundations of this self-proclaimed nation.

The quality of leadership is a reflection of a society’s state of maturity and ability in understanding the limits and boundaries of their inviolable pillars which, if broken, will bring down the house and those which are malleable and less sacrosanct. An informed and conscientious government comes from a mature, informed society. The average Somalilander is contented with being a recognized state forcing the successive governments to pursue it to the exclusion of more pressing social needs. Recognition became the muleta (cape) of the Spanish matador that conceals a sword. Like the bull, they only follow the movements of the mulata unaware of the immense social needs and problems.

As is always the case for governments of most tribal societies, the Somaliland government has wasted resource juggling tribal interest; courting the world for recognition, trying hard to put a façade of good governance and other minuscule tasks that do not affect the livelihood of the society. The successive Somaliland governments were obsessed with stretching their tenure and inflating their power. It is logical that the more adverse dealings a government has to juggle,  the more desirable and attractive it becomes to stay in power and the more it stays in power, the more autocratic it becomes. It will not have time to accomplish any of the elementary responsibilities charged with governments but will simply become consumed by the politics of survival. Maintaining order, upholding justice, attending to the welfare of the society, regulating the economy and establishing basic educational systems become the sacrificial lambs of the desire to prolong its term in office. It creates more national dramas, gives out more immaterial rewards or powers to tribes to court them for votes. The recent regions in Somaliland reek of folly and votes. Not counting the most obvious other disadvantages, too many regions in a small underdeveloped country like Somaliland will create too many levels of administrations, each connected only to the central government, thus, creating small centers of isolated, overstaffed offices and rigid administrations. In other words, it is equivalent to the formation of mini-dictatorships in the country.

The Guurti

Old men declare war because they have failed to solve complex political and economic problems ~Arthur Hoppe

In Article 83(5), the Somaliland Constitution specifies that:  If on the expiry of the term of office of the President and the Vice-President, it is not possible, because of security considerations, to hold the election of the President and the Vice-President, the House of Elders shall extend their term of office whilst taking into consideration the period in which the problems can be overcome and the election can be held. (italics are mine).

The sole reason, according to this article, for extending the President and Vice- Presidents’ terms of office is if there is a security consideration. The article fails to explain the kind of security consideration, how serious it has to be, who determines the magnitude or seriousness and source of the security threat, what is the role of the parliament and other institutions. It is too general and too broad that, in my opinion, it is badly written to begin with and presents a gaping loophole in the constitution. As the House of Elders is the caretaker of stability in Somaliland their concern should be amending the loopholes in the constitution and not using them as a quid pro quo for the extension of their term that they received from the President not long ago. This is not the first time that the Guurti lies in the bed of the Executive Branch.

On 27 April 2002, the House of Elders (Guurti) extended the term of office of the House of Representatives by one year just before it was to expire in May 2002. Again they extended it by two years in February 2003 and by six months in October 2005. The Guurti, then, claimed that according to Article 42(3) of the Constitution, the country was in “Dire Circumstance” (quotations/italics are mine) which warranted this extensions. According to this article, dire circumstances are: a wide war, internal instability, serious natural disasters, such as earthquakes, epidemic diseases, (and) serious famines. As these circumstances did not exist at the time, it may be accurate to say that they covering up for the governments inefficiencies. It is interesting to note the lack of depth in this article but it is also more interesting to note that Guurti never take upon themselves to openly acknowledge the existence of these “dire circumstances” when they exist and campaign the government to take immediate action.

Ideally, a GUURTI is a group of people selected for impartiality and acuity from a broad-based representation. The Somaliland guurti seems, on the one hand, to possess personal independence, but as a group their role as guardians of inter/intra-tribal peace and harmony, cultures and traditions subtly mutated to guardians of the Executive Branch. They became an adjunct or an extension of the government. As recipients of government remuneration, in a nation were poverty is the norm rather than the exception, they have opted out of the role their noble role. 

I believe that Somaliland’s Guurti should be concerned with developing, promoting and maintaining the peace and stability. They were the pioneers and the exponents of the peace enjoyed in Somaliland today. Their persistent indemnification of the gores which the politicians inflict on the society is a crucial requisite for the continued blossoming of the Oasis. As individuals steeped in the cultures and customs of the society, they have a unique opportunity to solidify a culture absent of corruption by rejecting to become a mouthpiece for either the government or the opposition. This is simply an extension of the peace they began. They need to understand that if they become implicated in more and more controversies; peace becomes less and less significant in the eyes of the average person.

The opposition

"Opposition is not necessarily enmity; it is merely misused and made an occasion for enmity." –Sigmund Freud

As tribal outfits with no structures, no coherent and consistent ideology and no vision of national values, Somaliland’s opposition parties are obsessed with wrestling power from the government which is determined to keep it at any cost. Apart from undermining the national objectives of Somaliland, this political tug of war is also the root cause of the current apprehension. Politics gone array blind leaders to the national and social conditions of degeneracy rife in their backyards.

Opposition parties play an important role in any nation. The first thing that they provide is choice. Having different choices in how to run the affairs of the nation is critical to a society’s development. Political parties choose to follow a defined strategy to economic development, social development, education, labour, etc in response to the specific conditions of a nation. Both the incumbent government and the opposition in Somaliland have missed the opportunity to elaborate to the public their vision of development. In the absence of an ideological path to judge the political parties, the only thing left for the public is to judge them on tribalism. This is the reason why tribal announcements on supporting party so or so have lately been a prominent feature of Somaliland. There is no difference between the governing party and the opposition and therefore, there is no choice. Thus, leaving Somaliland with no solutions to the current political malaise and apprehension.

Opposition parties help to stabilize the democratic process of a society by educating the public on the process of democratization. Instead of challenging the government on the choices it makes for the nation, or pointing out the lack thereof, the Somaliland political parties actually take the leadership in Africa’s game of political mediocrity. They do not take responsibility for the lack of national vision and least of all they do not indicate any policy or agenda that separates them from the government.

Normally, an opposition puts forth issues that matter to the development of the nation and sets values and goals for the society. In many cases, they should be able to unite with the government to stabilize the political process of the country by bringing together the interests of the communities and giving coherence to divisive government policies and structures. The two Somaliland opposition parties seem to be driving the divisiveness and contributing, in large part, in complicating the political process. The politico-economic fragility of Somaliland makes it necessary that the opposition constantly reaffirms the constitution. And where the constitution presents a loophole, as in the present case, they should bush for an amendment to the clause and not for bringing down the government.

The opposition speaks the voice of the society by clarifying the deficiencies and loopholes in the constitution. In the continuum of democracy’s checks and balances, the opposition occupies a central position from which they can force the government to abide by the constitution. Society also subjects the same scrutiny to the opposition and when the throne is the sole objective of both the government and the opposition, the society cannot avoid apprehension.

The Society

"In peace sons bury fathers, but war violates the order of nature, and fathers bury sons." - Herodotus

The institutionalization of tribalism in Somaliland is a deterrent to any meaningful governance. The quality of people given the reigns of the institutions is a compromise and not a choice, thus, highlighting the symbolic status of institutions void of any substantive developmental goals. The situation is also exacerbated by a civil service prone to corruption and a society with intense desire to exploit corruption as an effective tool to by-pass red tape. If Plato called the man a political animal, I would call Somalis a tribal animal. Given the catastrophic paths it has led them to, the society must learn to prevent its ruinous elements from taking over their lives and their institutions. The local civil society  institutions and the Diaspora have a critical role in that regard.

Civil society groups such as the media, religious leaders, political parties, students, legal associations, women’s associations etc can play a role in educating the society on the destructive powers of political tribalism. Civil societies are informal educational tools for the society and the absence of their role from Somaliland is either an indication of a centralized power or absence of knowledgeable civil society. If these civil societies are themselves tribal groupings, then, the whole purpose is defeated and the term “civil society” cannot be appropriate for such institutions.

I have argued before that what happed to the Somalis is a social collapse. In a social collapse, vices such as qaat  or addictions become more urgent needs than the necessities; noble virtues such truthfulness, hard work, honesty, compromises and common good become ignoble and lowly. People become interested only in quick fixes, quick gains, and victories. Leadership becomes synonymous with lucrative advantages and benefits over everyone else, limitless privileges and unchecked power. The society with the help of its civil society and its government can break the cycles of social and nation collapse. Somaliland has an administrative structure that can break that cycle, it is up to the society to force this governing structure to fulfill its mandate and avoid another collapse.

Conclusion

"We cannot change the past, but we can change our attitude toward it. Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness. Tear out arrogance and seed humility. Exchange love for hate --- thereby, making the present comfortable and the future promising." ~ Maya Angelou

The latest onslaught of wars in the east and explosions in the capital and the general sense of apprehension is nothing but a symptom of a deeper cataclysmic political malaise. Although peace was established in Somaliland, strategies to prevent the return of the prior social chaos have not even been looked at. So in a way, it can be argued that the peace in Somaliland might be a transition to a more adverse chaos. Chaos begins with authority’s abuse of power. It is the society who always ends up being the sacrificial lamps for the grand opportunistic dreams of politicians. In Somaliland, however, the irony is that the people and their traditional leaders decided to part ways with bloodshed and mayhem in the recent past, and now, the traditional leaders are implicated in a controversial term extensions. Despite support for  Somali Unity, my soft spot for Somaliland is two-fold: it is my homeland. Both success and failure will touch me in a personal way. Likewise, social chaos and tranquility will have immediate personal effects on me. The people of Somaliland chose peace over war. It is a grave disappointment to see that the people and their traditional leaders have somehow become desensitized to yesteryear’s dreams of peace, harmony and coexistence. They should be able to foresee what can lead to bloodshed and mayhem since they know better – they have been there!

Nur Hersi Bahal

Toronto, Canada
E-mail: nurb@rom.on.ca